THE US and Pakistan enjoyed cordial relations for about twenty-four years from the creation of Pakistan in August 1947 to the dismemberment of Pakistan in December 1971. The decade 1958-1968 is remembered as the golden period in the history of Pakistan with regards to the progress made by the country in the industrial, agricultural and other economic fields. In addition to good governance, long-term development plans and political stability, Pakistan’s friendly relations with the capitalist bloc played a significant role to help the military regime of President Ayub Khan achieve the highest GDP growth rate in the region. Ayub Khan was succeeded by another military dictator, General Yahya Khan. After the East Pakistan’s debacle, Yahya Khan handed over the government to Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto in December 1971. The US and the West turned against Bhutto, a democratically elected ruler of Pakistan, primarily for two reasons i.e. the efforts launched by Bhutto to acquire nuclear capability and his inclination to the Soviet Union and China. Because of the agitation launched by the opposition parties, General Muhammad Zia ul Haq, Chief of the Army Staff, imposed Martial Law on July 5, 1977, after overthrowing the government of Bhutto.
Ronald Regan was sworn in as the 40th President of the US in January 1981. President Reagan was known for his aggressive policies towards the Soviet Union. In response to the Soviet-backed Afghan Revolution in April 1978 and installation of pro-Moscow government in Afghanistan President Reagan revoked the policy of détente adopted by his predecessor President Jimmy Carter, after assuming charge as the President. When with the support and active involvement of the Pakistan Army, Afghan resistance started posing challenge to the Soviet Union, Pakistan once again became an important country for the US and the West. Despite the rule of General Zia Ul Haq, an Islamist military dictator, the Reagan Administration decided to provide military and financial support to Pakistan and to the Afghan freedom fighters to buttress their struggle against the Soviet Union. To gain the support of Muslim masses, Islamic terminology Jihad (holy war) for Afghan War, Mujahedeen (holy warriors) for freedom fighters were popularized. If after the collapse of the Soviet Union and the end of Cold War, the US had not abandoned Pakistan to woo India (the archenemy of Pakistan), which had been the closest ally of the (erstwhile) Soviet Union, outside the Communist Bloc, during the Cold War, the world wouldn’t have entered the 21st century with the cargo of terrorism.
The US and its allies failed to realise the aftermath of arousing the religious sentiments of the Muslim militants. Their eagerness to attain their own objectives, served to activate the lava of hatred, among the Muslim militants for the US and its allies, who they thought had subjugated them, through their minions, to achieve their illegitimate objectives. The direction of chauvinism, faithfully absorbed by the militants, was turned toward its igniters including Pakistan and the US, after the fall of Soviet Union. The militants exploited Islam more effectively to gain the support of Muslim youth against their new enemies. Religion always provides a potent justification to the human beings to love or hate one and another. The fire, using religion as its fuel, is hard to extinguish.
Though Pakistan regained importance for the US in 2001 following the 9/11 attacks, and the subsequent war on terror, the US-Pakistan relations have remained marked by distrust. Today the US is facing numerous difficulties in Afghanistan and the South Asia because of its strategy of endorsing India’s ambitious agenda of becoming a global power. According to the American think tank, the US cannot win the war on terror in Afghanistan without the support of Pakistan. To ensure Pakistan’s active support in war on terror, its genuine security concerns must be addressed. The major bone of contention between the US and Pakistan is India’s role in Afghanistan. Pakistan suffered the most during and after the Afghan War, because of its role as a frontline state. The presence of millions of Afghan refugees in Pakistan for the last forty years, besides being an unbearable burden on country’s feeble economy, has been a damaging influence on the culture, social fabric as well as the law and order situation in Pakistan. After having already suffered so much, Pakistan cannot allow India to use Afghan soil for terrorist activities inside Pakistan with the help of a hostile Afghan regime, reared by the US.
Had the US not abandoned Pakistan after the collapse of the Soviet Union, it wound not have to struggle to regain a foothold in the region. Before the Afghan War, Pakistan was virtually more secular than India. Though India boasts of its secular and democratic values, the on ground reality is much different. After Modi’s election as the Prime Minister in 2014, Hindu nationalist have geared up their efforts to transform India into a purely Hindu State by terrorizing other religious communities. If, instead of supporting the military dictators and corrupt politicians, the US had contributed to promote democratic values and education in Pakistan, it would have laid the foundations for durable Pak-US friendship.
The US contribution towards promotion of democracy and education in an underdeveloped country, besides being a humanitarian service, would have helped the people of Pakistan to willingly adapt themselves to the ever changing life patterns because of globalization of expanding horizons of knowledge and new scientific discoveries. Unlike China, the US failed to learn from the Soviet experience in Afghanistan. If the US had adopted China-like approach towards Pakistan, it (Pakistan) would, definitely, have preferred its strategic partnership with the US.
Source:Â https://pakobserver.net/a-missed-opportunity-for-the-us/?fbclid=IwAR3Fe5s4aRz19cGX9p1qNEHPckYL9OAEHHWB5XZv_JZy0JeHUG1MSKoTHBE
